1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of curing ultraviolet sealant material on floors, and more specifically a portable apparatus for enhanced curing of sealant to floor surfaces using ultraviolet radiation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of flooring materials are available for use in industrial, manufacturing, and warehouse applications. Certain surfaces can be cured using a photo-initiated or photosensitive sealant material. For example, an ultraviolet (UV) ‘sealer’ is applied to the floor surface to protect the surface from wear and tear due to foot traffic, motorized traffic, spills, and so forth. For certain floor types, it may be highly desirable to apply UV sealers specially formulated for hardwood, stone, tile, medium density fiberboard, particle board, plywood, vinyl materials, or concrete flooring.
For example, to seal concrete floors a urethane-based copolymer UV material may be applied to the concrete floor surface, and cured. Other floor material types may respond well to treatment with photo-initiated sealant materials including acrylated and cationic epoxies, urethanes, polyesters, and environmental protection agency zero volatile organic compound formulas.
Many of today's UV sealant material formulations require a long period of time, e.g. ranging from several hours to days, to fully cure a surface such that the surface is ready for use. In situations where the area being sealed incurs a great deal of traffic or provides an emergency exit pathway, extensive down time while the sealant is curing is highly undesirable.
Various devices are currently available to facilitate the curing and sealing of UV light sensitive coatings applied to a floor surface. In general, such curing machines include a UV lamp, a reflector, and a power source housed in a moveable and portable frame. The device is positioned over the floor surface whereupon radiation provided from the UV lamp is directed to the coated surface. The frame may be manually pushed across the floor surface, and in certain instances, mechanized wheels power and propel the frame forward. Such machines typically power a UV light source at a relatively small distance above the surface, from a few inches to a foot, whereby adjusting the height of the frame away from the surface can in certain instances reduce the UV radiation applied to the coating. Materials requiring significant radiation for curing may require operation of such a machine and light source a very small distance from the floor to adequately cure the surface.
Today's designs may be problematic when operated in small spaces, in cramped quarters, and/or used for smaller jobs. Previous large designs may be unwieldy in such situations.
Typical existing curing designs employ a large width irradiator component sufficient for efficient operation on large surfaces, such as a warehouse floor. Large curing machines may become problematic when operated in smaller areas such as sealing wood flooring in a home, vinyl flooring in a hospital room or ward, and/or when operated in other facilities including gyms, restaurants. Large machines may be limited or prevent sideways movement and can be problematic when curing floor surfaces that border another structure, such as an orthogonal interior wall and installed equipment, as well as flooring surface edges, such as formed by a ‘T-mold’ transition strip positioned between the surface ready for curing and a carpeted, laminated, tiled, or other separated areas.
Additionally, today's floor curing systems large machine size may become problematic and difficult to move from one project site to the next project site, and store when not in use particularly in small places due to limited space constraints. Deploying a large machine to complete a job having a small physical area or may not be cost feasible or may significantly reduce profitability.
Further, certain existing designs employ a single universal UV source which may be undesirable in different situations, such as when curing different materials. A UV source that works well on one sealant/surface may not work well on another sealant/surface combination. The ability to cure all types of sealants in all types of scenarios can be particularly beneficial, where an appropriate amount of curing energy can be provided to the surface.
It would therefore be useful to provide a floor curing machine design that overcomes the drawbacks associated with previous machines.